Egypt moves closer to Mediterranean oil trading hub

Egypt aims to complete a USD 457 mn expansion of Al Hamra Petroleum Port in New Alamein by December, Arabic Press reports, citing a government source. The project, being developed by state-owned Wepco in partnership with the UAE’s Fujairah, will increase crude storage capacity to 5.3 mn barrels from the current 2.5 mn barrels.

The expansion includes USD 122 mn of works in the port’s northern section and another USD 335 mn in the southern section — which will include a two-phase petroleum products storage and loading complex with capacity of 130k tonnes, housing storage tanks for diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel. The government aims to expand Al Hamra’s storage capacity to 20 mn barrels of crude oil and 400k tonnes of products by 2030.

The infrastructure behind the ambitions: The Egyptian Oil Ministry is targeting completion of a new pipeline linking the Midor refinery to Al Hamra during 2H this year, allowing refined products to be transported to the port for storage and export. The project would complete a two-way system that already moves crude from Al Hamra to Midor for processing, enabling Egypt to import crude, refine it domestically, and re-export higher-value petroleum products.

BACKGROUND- UAE’s Fujairah started working on its USD 3 bn oil logistics zone at Al Hamra Port last October, following three agreements signed by the Oil Ministry and the Emirate of Fujairah, including establishing a joint-stock company for a logistics zone in El Alamein, storing crude at Al Alamein’s Hamra Port, and supplying petroleum products to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation.